Maleficent
Maleficent is one of six playable Villains in the Villainous base game, The Worst Takes It All. She is from the movie Sleeping Beauty, released in 1959. She has cards of a unique type, Curse, which add effects to locations, but also each have a condition under which they are discarded from play. She can move them to different locations using the Move an Item or Ally action. Objective Maleficent must play Curses and move them as needed so she has at least one Curse at each location in her realm. She can only win at the start of her turn. Realm .]] Maleficent's Realm contains the following locations, from left to right: * Forbidden Mountains ** Move an Item or Ally | Play a Card ** Gain 1 Power | Fate * Briar Rose's Cottage ** Gain 2 Power | Move an Item or Ally ** Play a Card | Discard Cards * The Forest ** Discard Cards | Play a Card ** Gain 3 Power | Play a Card * King Stefan's Castle ** Gain 1 Power | Fate ** Vanquish | Play a Card Villain deck The following cards are in Maleficent's Villain deck: * Cackling Goon (×3) * Dragon Form (×3) * Forest of Thorns (×3) * Green Fire (×3) * Savage Goon (×3) * Sinister Goon (×3) * Vanish (×3) * Dreamless Sleep (×2) * Malice (×2) * Tyranny (×2) * Raven * Spinning Wheel * Staff These include 10 total Allies (Cackling Goon; Savage Goon; Sinister Goon; Raven), 4 total Conditions (Malice; Tyranny), 8 total Curses (Forest of Thorns; Green Fire; Dreamless Sleep), 6 total Effects (Dragon Form; Vanish), and 2 Items (Spinning Wheel; Staff). Card Gallery 3 Copies: 2 Copies: 1 Copy: Fate deck The following cards are in Maleficent's Fate deck: * Guards (×3) * Sword of Truth (×3) * Once Upon a Dream (×2) * Aurora * Fauna * Flora * King Hubert * King Stefan * Merryweather * Prince Phillip These include 2 total Effects (Once Upon a Dream), 10 total Heroes (Guards; Aurora; Fauna; Flora; King Hubert; King Stefan; Merryweather; Prince Phillip), and 3 total Items (Sword of Truth). Card Gallery 3 Copies: 2 Copies: 1 Copy: Strategy Maleficent is a fairly middling Villain, able to quickly achieve her Objective, but also quite easily set back from it, having a punishing Fate deck. Unlike most Villains, there is no one key card Maleficent needs to win. There are eight Curses in her deck, and she at a minimum only needs four of them. Like all Villains, she should be using the Discard Cards action frequently to find her Curses, as well as using Tyranny to help that along. That said, there are a few powerful cards she should look out for and hold onto. Raven is easily the best card in her deck, allowing Maleficent to use an extra action every turn, as well as letting her get around Green Fire's restriction. It should be played at the first opportunity, to get the most use out of it. After that, the Staff is the second priority, and should be played to The Forest, letting Maleficent save Power when playing her Curses and Effects. Vanish is another key tool, again letting Maleficent work around Green Fire, but also letting her squat in The Forest and accrue Power. Dragon Form is also useful (particularly when paired with Dreamless Sleep), as is the Spinning Wheel. The rest of her deck is filled out with various Goons. If you have nothing better to do, and Power to spare, feel free to play them, but unless there are Heroes around that need to be dealt with, the Goons are discard fodder. Remember that Curses can be moved with the Move an Item or Ally action - this can help you get around Merryweather, or avoid accidentally discarding Green Fire. There's no getting around the fact that Maleficent's progress is very visible. While the Raven can, in theory, let you play three Curses in one turn, this is unlikely to happen. Play your Curses as quickly as you can, and keep your board clear of Heroes, to avoid Sword of Truth and Once Upon a Dream, all the while discarding constantly. If a Curse gets discarded, you need to be able to play another one, so keep milling your deck to find them. The best way to preserve your win condition is to make sure you can't be Fated. Fate strategically, covering up top-row Fate actions with Heroes on other players' boards. Then, when each opponent can't Fate on their next turn, throw down your fourth Curse, and smile smugly as everyone around you rages in frustration. Countering Maleficent is relatively straightforward - there are several 4- or 5-Strength Heroes in her Fate deck that can discard Forest of Thorns, Fauna can discard Dreamless Sleep, and King Stefan (arguably the best card in the Fate deck) can shunt Maleficent into a Green Fire, discarding it. Use Sword of Truth and Once Upon a Dream when Heroes are present, and try to play Merryweather to a Forest of Thorns or a location without a Curse. Guards are pretty useless. While she can be Fated reactively with decent success, there's no reason to go easy on her. Category:Villains Category:Maleficent Category:The Worst Takes It All